Made from the meat of coconuts after the milk has been removed, coconut flour is loaded with nutrients that offer numerous health benefits. Coconut flour is gluten free, grain free, high in fibre, has a low GI, low carb and high in protein. It contains almost double the amount of fibre found in wheat bran. Fibre has numerous health benefits, from reducing the absorption of sugar into the blood stream, to lowering cholesterol.
Coconut flour can be used in a variety of baked goods. I use it to make muffins, bread, cakes and even a gnocchi. Since it is very high in fibre, it is very filling and I find that I do not gorge myself on the tasty muffins or cupcakes, simply because I am full. A couple will do rather than my usual six...ahem....
Due to the high fibre content, you will find that you do not use as much flour in a recipe as wheat flour. You do need to add a lot of moisture into the recipe as the coconut flour sucks up any liquid. So you use half the normal amount of flour, but probably double the eggs. I find that coconut flour is great with high water content such as courgettes (zucchini) as it sucks up all the excess moisture.
I think it is an amazing product and am annoyed at how hard it is to obtain, considering the increasing rise in obesity and diabetes, coconut flour should be the natural choice to control this and should be on every supermarket shelf!
